Stock Market & Financial Investment News

On The Fly: Closing Wrap Stocks on Wall Street were mixed after pre-open news of a $8.8B write-down at Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and midday comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke dented the averages. Better than expected housing data provided a counter point to Bernanke's warnings about the potential impact of the fiscal cliff and a late day recovery brought the indices back to being nearly unchanged on the day... ECONOMIC EVENTS: In the U.S., housing starts increased 3.6% in October from the prior month, to an annual rate of 894K, versus expectations for a decline of 3.7%. Building permits declined 2.7%, to an 866K annual rate, versus expectations for a decline of 2.9%. In Europe, Moody's downgraded France's government bond rating to Aa1 from Aaa... COMPANY NEWS: Hewlett-Packard shares plunged $1.59, or 11.95%, to $11.71, closing near 10-year lows after the company disclosed "serious accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and outright misrepresentations” related to its purchase of U.K. software company Autonomy. In addition to the scandal, H-P's quarterly earnings beat expectations but its view for profit next quarter trailed Street estimates... MAJOR MOVERS: Among the notable gainers was Krispy Kreme Doughnuts (KKD), up $1.77, or 23.47%, to $9.31 after the company's Q3 earnings beat consensus estimates and Wedbush raised their price target on the shares to $11 from $9. Also higher were shares of HeartWare (HTWR), which rose $7.53, or 9.18%, to $89.54 after the company received FDA approval for a heart failure pump. Among the noteworthy losers was Best Buy (BBY), which slid $1.79, or 13.02%, to $11.96 after its earnings fell short of lowered expectations and its same store sales declined 4.3%. Also lower were shares of Cliffs Natural Resources (CLF), down $4.19, or 12.07%, to $30.48 following a downgrade to Sell from Neutral at Goldman... INDICES: The Dow was down 7.45, or 0.06%, to 12,788.51; the Nasdaq was up 0.61, or 0.02%, to 2,916.68; and the S&P 500 was up 0.93, or 0.07%, to 1,387.82.

Earnings Preview: HP reports with break-up inching closerHewlett-Packard (HPQ) is set to report first quarter earnings after the market close on Tuesday, February 24, with a conference call scheduled for 5:00 pm ET. Hewlett-Packard is an IT company that provides hardware, software, and business and enterprise solutions. In October of last year, HP announced plans to separate into two new publicly traded companies: one comprising HP's enterprise technology infrastructure, software and services businesses, which will do business as Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, and one that will comprise HP's personal systems and printing businesses, which will do business as HP Inc. EXPECTATIONS: Analysts are looking for earnings per share of 91c on revenue of $27.34B, according to First Call. The consensus range for EPS is 88c-95c on revenue of $27.01B-$27.92B. With its last earnings report, the company said it expects Q1 EPS of 89c-93c. HP has an FY15 EPS forecast of $3.83-$4.03, compared to a consensus estimate of $3.96. LAST QUARTER: On November 25, HP reported fourth quarter EPS of $1.06, matching the consensus estimate, on revenue of $28.4B, against a consensus estimate of $28.76B. HP said its Q4 personal systems revenue was up 4% from the prior year period, with total units up 5%, including Desktops units being down 2% and Notebooks units being up 8%. Enterprise Group revenue was down 4% year over year, with Industry Standard Servers revenue down 2%, Storage revenue down 8%, Business Critical Systems revenue down 29%, Networking revenue up 2% and Technology Services revenue down 3%. NEWS: On the day after HP's Q4 report, HP CEO Meg Whitman said in an interview on CNBC that the company will have a moratorium on acquisitions during 2015 as it readies for its split. Whitman also noted that the newly formed companies will have a supply chain agreement to ensure they do not lose leverage after their split. In mid January, research firm Gartner estimated that worldwide shipments of PCs increased 1% last quarter. "These results indicate a slow, but consistent improvement following more than two years of decline," the firm wrote. Late last month, HP said it has been "working diligently to ensure that both HP Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise are set up for success" and announced Hewlett-Packard Enterprise will be headed by Meg Whitman as President and CEO and that HP Inc. will be led by Dion Weisler as President and CEO. STREET RESEARCH: On December 17, Citigroup analyst Jim Suva contended that sales of PCs will be at least flat next year, before growing slightly in 2016 and 2017. The firm identified HP as the best way to play better than expected PC sales. Suva raised his price target on HP shares to $46 from $40 and kept a Buy rating on the stock. Also at that time, Suva raised his price target on hard disk drive maker Western Digital (WDX) to $125 from $110 and on its competitor, Seagate (STX), to $74 from $70, as he noted that the companies obtain about 50% of their revenue from PCs. He kept Buy ratings on both names. On January 13, Pacific Crest downgraded HP to Sector Perform from Outperform, citing increased competition and the fact that a number of companies are buying integrated IT stacks and buying fewer individual servers and IT storage products. More recently, Wells Fargo said it believes that HP's Q1 results could exceed the consensus outlook, driven by PC share gains, strong server demand, and solid printing demand. The firm believes that currency issues may pressure the company's outlook, but it thinks that investors expect such a scenario. The firm reiterated an Outperform rating on the shares. PRICE ACTION: Over the last three months, shares of HP are up almost 2%. Near midday ahead of Tuesday's report, the stock was down fractionally near $38 per share.

HP volatility elevated into Q1 and outlook HP February weekly call option implied volatility is at 61, March is 30, April is at 28, August is at 27; compared to its 26-week average of 27 according to Track Data, suggesting large near term price movement into the expected release of Q1 results on February 24.

HeartWare recall should not have material impact long-term, says CanaccordCanaccord does not believe the voluntary recall issued by HeartWare should not have any material impact on its business long-term, as the serious event rate is relatively low. The recall pertains to a previously known issue and is in effect a continuation of its 2013 corrective action, Canaccord said. The firm reiterated its Buy rating and $115 price target on HeartWare shares.

Cliffs Natural finalizes energy agreement with We Energies in U.P. of Michigan Cliffs Natural (CLF) has finalized an interim power agreement with Wisconsin Energy's (WEC) utility energy segment We Energies for its Michigan operations. The company stated that this is "one key step in a series of contemplated short and long-term agreements that are essential to the viability of its iron ore mines in the Upper Peninsula".